The army of Jin Kisaragi
by BIBOTOT
Summary: The celebrated Major Jin Kisaragi has been assigned to leading a group of elite Praetorian Guard. But things aren't always easy, especially when there's a war coming. Enjoy.


_ 15th Hierarchical City of Torifune,_

_ Librarium time 16:00._

_ Sector 24/f_

Major Jin Kisaragi walked into the briefing room while adjusting his collar. Lord General Smenotz came to greeted him as he entered. Jin saluted.

"Lord General."

"Good afternoon, Major. Ease." The Lord General waved. His style of clothes was certainly unnerving which set Jin's teeth on the edge. He was draped in a simple white robe and wore a pair of loose sandals, giving the Major an uneasy sense of being excessively overdressed with too much coats and all the more medals. "Right, let's get to business. You know why you're here, right?"

"I go where to Librarium points me to," returned Jin. Smenotz laughed.

"That's the spirit, son." He tapped Jin on the shoulder. "Well, here's the thing. I've got a bunch of fung up here,…"

"Fung, sir?" echoed Jin.

"Fung, you know, the slang for raw recruits."

Jin still looked confused.

"Frakking new guys. You'll get used to it soon. Anyway, you're a hero and they need a role model to look up for."

"I did what duty calls for, that's all."

"You did more than that, better than anyone else," the Lord General persisted. High Command has informed me that you're coming here to sharpen them." Jin frowned.

"My apologies but, how do I do that? I never got on well with fight tutors."

"You don't need to teach them anything," Smenotz assured him. "In fact, they're among our best graduated students here. The elite of the elite."

"The Praetorian Guard, then. Is that what you're talking about?"

The Lord General smiled. "Precisely. What I want you to do is be their guide in the next mission."

"And that mission is?"

Smenotz gave him the data-slate. Jin's eyes opened widely.

"This is surely something to talk about," he agreed. "So, where do I meet them?"

"Right here. The data-slate contains their past achievement. You should take a look."

"Anyone tell me what do you owe the Imperator?" Jin asked, turning to regard the six cadets, most of whom made a hurried attempt to look as though they had been sitting upright and paying attention instead of swapping salacious holo-picts on their data-slates.

"Our life, sir." A clear contralto, clipped and precise cut through the murmur of wild guesses. "And only in death will the dept be paid."

"Well done, Haller," Jin said, although he was half-hearted at this. It was tantamount to saying hello. All members of the Duodecim were obliged to study psalms whereas most others would wish to skip if possible. Haller was the heir of the noble Uzuki family, one of the buttresses that made up the NOL in the first place. He was tall and lithe, his hair brown and long. According to the dossier, he had the highest score in the class, which came to Jin as no surprise knowing how harsh and disciplined members of the Duodecim are. The provost himself had recommended him. Jin would have thought the man was the brightest of the bunch, but the picture of a naked girl covered in some sort of juice, at least he thought it was juice, on his data-slate made him rethought about that.

"Good to see you, bro."

_Oh no. Nonononono. You didn't just call your superior_ bro_. Cousins we may be but this is the army we're talking about._

Jin held himself impassive, albeit with some difficulties. Going bazooka in front of all the cadets here was not the best idea. And there was still a reputation to uphold, to which he found very weary.

"Good to see you too," he acknowledged turning to the next quickly. Surprisingly, the squadron consisted of all men. Jin had expected at least one female to be in the group to balance up in term of sex.

Right next to Haller sat Cereal, a strong-built man whose crimson outfit really stood out. All the others were wearing the blue of the Praetorian Guard. The cap on his head indicated Jin's worse fear: a commissar, political officer in charge of morale and discipline by literally shooting in the head of anyone who express incompetence of run away in battle. His background was quite impressive, though not as much as Haller. Jin hoped he wouldn't be one of those happy-triggers. The thought of the amount of paper word that followed made Jin sick. No one liked a commissar. Nobody. Honestly, he had seen more than one commissars who died heroic death even when the nearest heretics, ninjas, mutants were at a suspicious distance away.

"It is an honor to serve you, sir," said Cereal.

"Good to hear that," Jin forced a smile on his face. "I'm appointing you as my second-in-command."

"I won't let you down, sir." At least he was competent enough. Jin wondered how he would fare on the battlefield.

There was a sense of acrid body odor in the room. Jin realized it was coming from the cadet called Darem.

"Captain Imento Darem," Jin called out. "That's you right?"

"Yes sir," the trooper with a bad smell replied.

"You're a specialist in anti-amour, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Tank buster, sir."

"He blew up the headmaster's personnel car," Haller cut in. The rest erupted into laughter. Darem flushed.

"It wasn't my fault," he vindicated. "I thought the car was abandoned."

Jin would have really liked this guy hadn't been for the aura he producing which beginning to attract the attention of flies.

The next person in the room looked like hell. If Darem was a rotting corpse coming back to life this guy was definitely the power that pulled him down in the first place. The top of his head had been replaced by a metallic skull and a sensor glittered roughly where his left eye would have been. A mechanical arm protrude from his back, waving like an importunate child. Jin assumed he must be Faulz the engineer.

"How are you doing?" Jin asked him.

"The Machine Gods always provide," Faulz replied. His jaw didn't move at all and the voice was coming from a vox castor attached to his skull. This guy just got creepier and creepier. "It's a privilege being under your command. I am ready."

"That's proper." Jin nodded. The Technosorcery Cult made up for only one fifth the number of NOL sappers, but carried out as many as two thirds the errands. This wasn't the first time he had seen one. A large number of them took part in the Ikaruga war where they fought and died with the more meaty comrades.

Only one person was left remaining. His eyes were wandering around and distracted as if he had only ended up here by chance.

"Hey you, Lieutenant Noel Vermillion," Jin called out. The man stood up abruptly as if his chair had been electrified.

"Sir," he shrieked.

The other cadets laughed. Vermillion shifted uncomfortably.

"What's with your voice, boy?" asked Jin. "Have you caught a cold recently?"

The cadets started chortling even harder. This time, Jin knew they were laughing at him.

"Boy? I'm girl!" Noel exclaimed.

"A girl?" echoed Jin. So that proved it. The squadron wasn't all male after all. Jin was glad to hear this. "You must excuse me. It was only a misunderstanding."

_What kind of hairstyle is that? Not feminine at all. And that breast size is just… ridiculous._

Noel pouted. Jin looked into her eyes. He was taken back. Those beautiful green orbs. He had seen them before. In the mirror. On his own face. The lieutenant had the exact same eyes as his.

"You can be my aide," said Jin.

"Your aide?" asked Noel.

"You'll do the errand according to what I say, which included providing me with tea every time I'm in a conference. Alright, any further question?"

Cereal raised a hand.

"Yes, what is it?"

"We heard you have got a mission for us. Is that true?"

"Oh, that's right. I almost forgot about it." Jin blushed as he took out his data-slate. How could something this important slip his mind like that? "Here we go. Ok, I suppose you all have heard about the Fadigor, right?"

Everyone knew that. The Fadigor was a sub-human cult who isolated themselves from the Librarium after the Dark War. In recent years, thanks to their rapid rate of reproduction, their number had largely increase and became a real threat. Rumors had been that they had allied with other mutants warbands in order to overthrow the NOL and that the Second Dark War was closing in. There had been an increasing number of raids and skirmishes taking place in the last two months.

"These bastards breed like rabbits," said Haller.

"Right. We have been given order to subjugate an uprising cult in Faradoor where numerous raids on the population had been reported."

"Are there anything special about them?" asked Darem.

"That is why we're there to see."

"When do we begin?" asked Cereal enthusiastically. Clearly the lad was eager to put some bullets into the mutants hide.

Jin smiled genially. "Right now. Your transport in waiting."

The trip the Uchibai was uneventful. Darem was sleeping all the way. The rest of the journey would have to be carried out on foot, which they wasted no time moving on.

The Tafong Road ran flat, wide and straight through the arable lowlands which were formed by the broad basin of the holy river, which irritated into the field and ditch systems of local farmers every year with its seasonal flood. There was a fresh, damp smell in the air and for the lot of the way, the road followed the curving river bank. Cereal was moving in front, scouting with vigilance. A commissar was obviously not the best option for such task, but there were no point-men present and Cereal was the only one who had half attended scouting lessons back at the Academy.

Faulz was carrying a huge backpack as if he was going camping or something, although the weight didn't seem to bother him. No one wanted to be near Darem, not without an augmented nose which not even Faulz appeared to have. The only exception was the flies which welcomed his body odor.

Haller made a few outrageous jokes to bolster morale. For the most part, Jin's newly appointed aide, Noel Vermillion didn't seem to be talkative.

"Is there anything wrong with you?" Jin asked her.

"Ahh, no. I mean, no, sir," the girl stammered the respond.

"Really? Why aren't you talking much?"

"I…uhm….not feeling like…."

"If there is anything wrong you should tell me. I am your superior."

"No, nothing is wrong, sir," the girl replied timidly.

"Are you afraid because you're the only girl in the group? Did anyone bully you? Tell me."

Noel was lost of word when Cereal cried out.

"Sir, take a look at this."

The Major scurried forward, joining him behind a piece of curved terrain. What he saw was nothing good.

Bodies. Dead. Hundreds of them. Scattered on the paddocks like discarded garbage. A first glimpse and Jin thought they were draped in black robe. But the flies had been busy indeed. They covered the flesh like seething links of cloth. The glittered furiously, moving like a single thing.

"Civilians," Haller hissed, making no attempt in hiding his revulsion. "Those bastards beat us here."

"What happened here?" Noel gabbled, her face paling quickly. "Why is this…"

Two people were still moving, smoking and exchanging talks. For the first time, the cadets saw the true face of the enemy. They saw it, the true nature of their foe: twisted, corrupted human forms, remnants of the Dark War the NOL never got rid of. They were large, gnarled men dressed in green silk wraps. Where the wraps parted or torn away, Haller could see a wealth of tattoos: tortured images, blasphemy, things that made his eyes hurt just by looking at.

"Kill them all," he growled.

"Wait, are we going to murder them?" asked Noel, aghast.

In most case that would have triggered a hail of laughter from the rest, but the scene was so frightful no one was in mood for that.

"Kill, not murder," Cereal corrected her.

"What's the difference anyway?"

Cereal shrugged. "You can't murder an animal. You can only kill it."

Noel shuddered. From what she knew, commissars were political officers who made lies when the need for that arises. But given the situation they were in, and the somberness in his tone, it could hardly be the case. No one would joke at _THIS_, not after they had seen _THAT_.

"There will be more of them," Jin interrupted. "They come in awfully large number, remember? Plus we don't know anything about them yet, so stay still and observe."

Haller gritted his teeth. "Are you going to just sit here and watch this outrage take place? Are you, brother?"

"I am just saying…"

Before Jin could finish, Faulz cut in hoarsely. "Sir, take a look at that."

All the eyes turned to the direction he was pointing. Two more Fadigor had emerged along with a shackled boy. The child was seven-eight years old and looked tattered, his clothes torn, his face bleeding. The mutants took him to an altar of some sort where they tied him to the stone and prepare to butcher.

At the sight of this, not even the phlegmatic Jin could stand it anymore. "Cut them down," he ordered, and the troops responded enthusiastically.

The Fadigor raised his massive axe in front of the boy. The crude thing came down, but onto the ground instead of his neck. A second later, the mutant dropped, his head gone. The other Fadigor, startled and confused, tried to make a run for it but in vain. Haller took him down with another shot from his long snipe rifle.

Haller grinned. The Fadigor had defiled this place, and rightful retribution was the consequence. It was so absolving pointing the gun at those who deserved it.

The other two from earlier seemed to have noticed, and started scrambling. Darem rose and put a cluster shot from his shotgun that lacerated them both.

"Oh year!" he whooped as the enemy were reduced to bloody chunks.

"Quiet," said Jin, listening carefully.

A moment of silence. Then came an eldritch roar. Then the drum. Then the mutants.

There were a least two dozens charging from the meadows which had already dries out and a score charging from the forests behind them. The Fadigor had an infamous reputation of traveling in ridiculously large group. They were flanked.

Darem took out his rocket launcher. There were no hostile vehicles around, but the sheer number of infantry was definitely worth it. He fire, not one, but three missiles at a time. It went without saying that accuracy was a dump hope. Adjusting the aim wouldn't help much either. The projectiles would find their target by luck or judgment of both. But it was true that three times luck equaled a fact, although it seemed to Jin Kisaragi a gloss waste of munitions.

The first went wide and hit the trees, scorching section of the woods.

The second vaporized a rock and the two Fadigor behind it.

The third hit the center of the enemy rank and a gratifying number of ragged corpses were thrown in mid-air.

"Darem, Vermillion, Cereal, take the rear," cried Jin. "Haller, Faulz, with me."

"Right with you, Major," Faulz assured him, and ran off. To Jin's surprise, the sapper was making good speed despite the weight he carried. He assumed it had something to do with the augmented limbs.

Haller took a pot shot and the leading Fadigor fell heavily. Faulz fired laser beams into the group and down went another three. The rest pushed on, heedless to the fate of their comrade. The dead were crushed mercilessly under their feet.

Jin Kisaragi was the first to meet them at close combat. His ice-car smashed into their ranks, knocking two sideways and pulverized the third. There wasn't much left from him but for a pool of crimson mush. The Mulcro Algesco Yukianesa sang, decapitating Fadigor left and right. The ones he missed were taken out cleanly by Haller whose marksmanship would exceed anyone's expectation.

Two of the mutants were beginning to fire back, but their weapons were obsolete compared to Ars Magus and most of the shots went wide. The ones that hit were on their own comrades. Jin impaled an enemy soldier with his blade and dragged him up, turning him into a human shield to block the incoming bullets.

One of the shooters evaporated. The other looked back, terrified. Faulz finished him off with another shot from his plasma cannon.

On the other side, Noel fired for the first time and shot down an advancing Fadigor. Her weapon was somewhat kindred to Jin's. They were both Nox Nyctores, ancient Technosorcery from the Dark War. No bullet was fired. The shot exploded inside the mutant's skull, spilling his twisted brain into the open.

Noel vomited. This was the horror of war she had always dreamt of, yet never expected to experience first-handedly. She shivered. She fidgeted. Her aim stumbled. A warrior she was not.

Cereal had scored his eighth kill, a devastating blow of his Power sword that cut through the metal bayonet his opponent was carrying and, a second later, sliced through his face, when he saw Noel breaking down. He was outraged.

Cereal grabbed Noel by her armpit and held her straight up. He pressed the muzzle of the pistol into her forehead. Noel felt it burning. The tip of the gun was hot from the amount of shots it fire. But that was not the worse he could offer.

"Get a grip of yourself, lieutenant," he shouted. "If you do now serve in combat, I'll have to put you on firing line service. Now straighten up."

Noel nodded briskly, and shook free from his grip, wiping her tears.

More Fadigor were coming, most of them fell to the guns of Darem, Cereal and Noel were had again started firing back, but a few made it to close combat where they could put their hideous melee arms to bare. The axes, knives, daggers, maces may seemed like crude pieces of metal forged together, some of their shapes yet even unidentifiable, but under the inhuman strength that wielded them, no doubts they would be as deadly as anything in the NOL.

Cereal shot in the face of the first assailant and put a devastating blow of his Power sword that cut through the metal bayonet the second was carrying and, a split moment later, sliced through his face. Darem blew one of his opponents to dust with a powerful shot at proximity and crippled two more with the butt of the shotgun. A Fadigor levelled a stubber at him. Before he could shot, his chest detonated in a hellish pink mist. Darem nodded at Noel approvingly.

"Good job, Vermillion," he commented.

Noel stuttered, not knowing what to say. She had not expected to actually kill a man, let alone a dozen when she entered to Academy. She joined simply because of the financial aid. She wanted to help her parents who were arduously making ends meet. She looked down, sobbing. At least the commissar wasn't going to shot her in the head. Not this time.

The battle lasted ten minutes, concluding with the total annihilation of the Fadigor scouting party. Jin had thought about capturing some so they might elicit information, but the group was attacking with such fierce, or to be plain, frenzy, he knew it was all but impossible. The dead mutants were discarded no different from what they had done to the poor civilians.

"First blood," declared Cereal excitedly. "First victory to our group."

Haller shook his head sadly. "I would not be too glad if I were you," he said, extending a hand that indicated the boy they were trying to save. He was dead now. A bullet, by a meanest slice of misfortune, had found its way into his head. Whether the Fadigor killed him deliberately or by chance it was everybody's guess.

Darem approached and close the boys' eyes gently. "May your soul rest in peace," he prayed.

"May the all the souls Faradoor find their place," said Cereal as he took out his hat.

Noel Vermillion was crying too hard she wasn't going to say anything. Her blond hair was down and messy. She had been snuffing it into the head the whole time which Jin mistook for short crop. The commissar embraced her.

"I would not count on that," said Jin. "Not yet. All the bodies here have one thing in common. Can anyone point it out?"

"They're rotting like hell," said Haller disdainfully. "And the scent makes Darem body odor smells like roses."

"They are mostly women, children and old people," Faulz put in helpfully. The decay and flies had not been easy on the corpses, but his implanted eye could make out things normal people can't. "Non-workers."

Jin nodded. "When to Fadigor took this town, anyone who resisted would be slaughtered immediately. The captives are then categorized. Able men, some women I suppose, are forced to work in smiths and forges. The rest ends up…well, like this."

"Then there's still a chance we can save them," said Haller hopefully.

"We're not done yet. I have made up my decision. We will not stop until the town is freed from this mutants taint and all the slaves are enfranchised. Or die trying.

"For NOL. For Imperator."

"FOR NOL. FOR IMPERATOR," the rest cried back at once.


End file.
